Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
- Life
Born in Penzing, Austria (near Vienna)
Frail & sickly (rickets)
2nd child of six
Father was a wealthy grain merchant
Mother favored his older brother: Sigmund Adler
1895, MD from U of Vienna
1902, Freud invited him to join
“Wednesday evening discussions”
Sigmund was 14 years older
Like an older, wiser brother
Competition
1910, Adler become president of Vienna Analytic Society
1911, complete break with Freud
1916-18, Drafted into army
WWI, physician on the Russian front
“War is not the continuation of politics with other means,
but the greatest social crime against the solidarity of humanity.”
1921, opened chain of 30 child-guidance clinics
1926, visit US (extended stay)
1934, moved from Vienna to Long Island
1937, died on a lecture tour to Scotland
Heart attack at Aberdeen University - Founder of “individual psychology
- Coined the term “feelings of inferiority”
- Not more valuable than another
- Moving higher in rank toward completeness
- Getting closer to perfection
- Reaching our full potential
- Compensation
- Compensation is good
- Make up for weakness
- Demosthenes
- 384-322 BC
- Speech impediment; stammered
- Compensated:
- Put pebbles in his mouth
- Recited verses while running
- Became Greek’s greatest orator
- Annette Kellerman
- Mother of synchronized swimming
- Creator of 1-piece swim suit
- Began swimming because of childhood illness; barely able to walk
- Overcompensating is bad
-
- Take advantage of other people
- Try to cover up a weakness
- Six distinctively-Adlerian concepts:
- a. Family constellation
position within the family
sibling rivalry - b. Pampered child
Spoiled and protected
Greatest curse of childhood
Deprived of right to be independent - c. Inferiority complex
unfulfilled, overwhelmed by inferiority
organ inferiorities
some body parts stronger
circus performers
psychological inferiorities
concentrate only on what good at
math phobia - d. Superiority complex
pretending to be superior
exaggerate own importance - e. Compensation = striving to overcome
- f. Life lie
self-deception
mistaken style of life
- a. Family constellation
- More Adlerian concepts:
- Masculine protest
- Demands to have his own way
- Normal for boys
- Boys are encouraged to be assertive in life
- Boys and girls begin life with the capacity for “protest!”
- Girls not encouraged to be assertive
- Woman act & dress like man to compensate
- Demands to have his own way
- Masculine protest
- Three situations that make a faulty lifestyle
- 1. Organ inferiorities & childhood diseases
“Overburdened”
Tend to be focus on themselves
Most = strong sense of inferiority
Some = overcompensate: superiority complex
Few truly compensate; need the encouragement of loved ones - 2. Pampered child
Taught by the actions of others
Can take without giving
Their wish is everyone else’s command
Pampered child fails in two ways
1. doesn’t learn to do for himself; discovers later that he is truly inferior
2. doesn’t learn any other way to act; always gives commands
Society responds with hatred - 3. Neglect
Told they are of no value
Taught to trust no one
Learn inferiority
Orphans, victims of abuse, parents are never there or rigid rules
- 1. Organ inferiorities & childhood diseases
- Style of life = how live your life
- Teleology = moving towards the future
- Fictional finalism
Behave “as if” (philosopher Hans Vaihinger)
as if knew world will be here tomorrow
as if were sure what is good and bad
as if everything we see is as we see it
“as if” heaven & hell real
“fiction” = can’t be proven
“finalism” = won’t know until future; but it influences our behavior today
Psyche = ultimate finalism - Social interest
originally called Gemeinschaftsgefuhl
“community feeling”
can’t exist or thrive without others
social animals - Self-guarding tendencies = to not feel inferior
- Neuroses = unrealistic life goals
- Adler’s 3 “entrance gates” to mental life
- a. Birth order
Only child
pampered, special care, parents more anxious, no one to rely on
1st child
begins as an only child, dethroned, battle for lost position
act like the baby
disobedient and rebellious
sullen and withdrawn
most likely to be problem children
more conservative
precocious
2nd child
has first child to be “pace-setter”
tries to surpass the older child, competitive
tend to dream of constant running without getting anywhere
Other “middle” children are similar to second child;
each may focus on a different “competitor”
Youngest child
most pampered
only one who is never dethroned
second most likely problem children
incredible inferiority; everyone older & “therefore” superior;
can be driven to exceed all of them - b. Earliest memory
Concerned with the theme
If involves security & attention, might be pampered
If recall aggressive competition with your older brother, “ruling” personality
If involves neglect or hiding, it might mean severe inferiority and avoidance - c. Dreams
Includes daydreams
An expression of your style of life
Reflect your goals
If can’t remember any dreams, fantasize
- a. Birth order
- Personality Types
- 3 styles have no social interest
Differ on amount of energy use - Ruling
dominates people
lots of energy - Leaning
also called “getting” type
rather get than give
some energy - Avoiding
try to escape
no energy - Socially useful
4th type has both social interest & energy
- 3 styles have no social interest
- Therapy
Client caught in dark room & can’t find an exit
Mirror Technique = looks at self in mirror
Favorite questions
“And why do you feel like that?”
“What purpose does your illness serve?”
“What do you think is the reason for your reacting that way?”
Carl Jung (1875-1961)
- Life
Born in Kessewil, Switzerland; July 26, 1875
Father (Paul Jung) was a minister
Mother (Emilie Preiswerk Jung)
Didn’t care for school
Kept to himself
Didn’t like competition
Boarding school in Basel, Switzerland
Teased by others
Tended to faint under pressure
First career choice was archeology
MD, University of Basel ; work under famous neurologist Krafft-Ebing - 1913, in the fall, has a vision
- “Monstrous flood”
Engulfing most of Europe
Comes to mountains of Switzerland
Thousands drown & civilization crumble; waters turned into blood
Followed by several weeks of dreams of eternal winters and rivers of blood
- “Monstrous flood”
- 1914, July, WWI began in Eurpose
- 1916, August 1, World War I began for US
- 1918-1928, self-exploration
- Wrote down his dreams, fantasies & visions
- Drew, painted, and sculpted them
- Common threads
- Formed into ‘persons’
- wise old man = spiritual guru
- little girl = “anima”: the feminine soul; his medium with his unconscious
- leathery dwarf guards the unconscious; the shadow
- Lots of dreams about death
- dead people
- the land of the dead
- the rising of the dead
- Represented the unconscious itself
Not the “little” personal unconscious
Collective unconscious of humanity
Contain all the dead, including our personal ghosts
Mentally ill are haunted by ghosts
Personal ghosts
Collective unconscious
- Formed into ‘persons’
- 10 characteristics of Jung:
- a. Amplification
Different from free association
Focus repeatedly on same element
Give multiple associations - b. Persona = social role
- c. Shadow = un-social feelings & thoughts
Opposite side of persona - d. Anima-Animus
Anima = feminine side of male
Animus = masculine side of female - e. Archetype = universal themes affect behavior
- f. Synchronicity = meaningful coincidences
- g. Transcendence = integration of self systems
- h. Primordial images
Memory traces from ancestral past
Including pre-human - i. Collective unconscious = composed of primodial images
- j. Personal unconscious = stores personal experiences
- a. Amplification
- Other characteristics of Jung:
- Complexes = an organized group of thoughts and feelings about something
So preoccupied influences most behavior
Mother - Self = the central archetype
- Constellating power = attracts new ideas into it and integrates them
- Transpersonal = extends across persons
- Mandala = the symbol of self; self striving for wholeness
- Compensatory function = speak for the unconscious
- Psychic birth
Starts in adolescence
Psyche shows definite form
Personality grows throughout life
Big changes in middle years (35-40) - Teleology
Moving toward future; like Adler - Causality = relative causality
- Synchronicity
- Complexes = an organized group of thoughts and feelings about something
- Jung’s 4 basic functions
a. sensation
b. intuition
c. thinking
d. feeling - 8 Personality Types
4 basic functions
Sensation-intuition = how deal with facts and reality
Thinking-feeling = logic, value and attitudes
2 primary attitudes toward reality- introversion
inward to subjective world
direct psychic energy more inwardly focused - extroversion
outward to objective world
direct psychic energy towards the things in external world
- introversion
- Jungian Assessments
- Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
- Word association test
- Active imagination
- Rorschach ink blots
- Myers-Briggs
16 different 4-letter combinations
EI Extroversion-Introversion
SN Sensing-Intuition
FT Feeling-Thinking
JP Judgement-Perception
Sensation (S) seeks fullest possible experience of what is immediate and real
Intuition (N) seeks the broadest view of what is possible and insightful
Thinking (T) seeks rational order and plan according to impersonal logic
Feeling (F) seeks rational order according to harmony among subjective values